


from the beginning (it was you)

by byungari



Series: home is where the heart is [1]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Army, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, this is not edited im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 20:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byungari/pseuds/byungari
Summary: It's hard to have a life outside of your job when you're a doctor, but it's even harder if your significant other is the captain of a South Korean Special Forces unit.But somehow, Jihoon and Woojin make it work.Or, at least, they try.





	from the beginning (it was you)

**Author's Note:**

> prequel to ["to you, who shines more brightly than the stars above"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782139)
> 
> *i used the 12-hour clock for texts that are in Jihoon's pov and military time for Woojin's.  
> 

Jihoon purses his lips at the text he gets from Woojin, telling him that he won’t be able to make it to dinner today due to some “complications” at work, and when he sends a message back asking just what kind of complications Woojin’s talking about, he doesn’t get an answer back.

Which doesn’t surprise Jihoon in the slightest, if he’s being honest. Having to deal with the secrets that Woojin keeps out of confidentiality is something that he’s gotten used to in the years that they’ve spent together.

(And Jihoon is fully aware that it’s also for Jihoon’s safety, because knowing too much is _dangerous_ —but that doesn’t mean Jihoon has to like it.)

He sighs and pockets his phone, leaving the restroom and goes to resume his rounds, telling himself not to get upset because he expected this. Everybody around him had warned him how hard it would be dating the captain of a special forces unit, and Woojin himself had told Jihoon beforehand how many _secrets_ there would be.

(At the time, Jihoon had appreciated Woojin for his honesty but now? He just wants to spend some time with his boyfriend.)

“What’s up?” Seongwoo, a colleague of Jihoon’s, throws an arm around Jihoon’s shoulder and joins the younger doctor for the rest of his rounds. “Heard you’re going out with that soldier boyfriend of yours tonight. Will we _finally_ get to meet the elusive Park Woojin?”

Jihoon exhales deeply and Seongwoo immediately knows he’s hit a sore spot. “We’re not going out for dinner. Not anymore, at least. He got held off at work.”

“Oh.” Seongwoo winces. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Jihoon sighs. “I’ll just get some rest tonight, I guess. At least I got Christmas off.”

“You’re a lucky bastard, Park Jihoon,” Seongwoo laments. “Jaehwan was so pissed that I can’t take Christmas off until he realized he has to attend an award show and some company party afterwards.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “Is he the music producer you told us about?”

“He is,” Seongwoo confirms.

“Congrats.” Jihoon grins. “He must be one hell of a person if he’s managed to get _you_ to settle down.”

“Hey,” Seongwoo protests. He and Jihoon wave at some of the patients and nurses before continuing, “Don’t make me sound like some playboy.”

“You kind of are a playboy.” Minhyun quips as he joins them. Jihoon and Seongwoo both jump in surprise at the appearance of the fox-like doctor. “What’s wrong?”

“You scared me,” Seongwoo complains and Jihoon nods with a pout. “How was the operation?”

Minhyun grimaces. “It went.”

“That’s relatable,” Seongwoo comments. “What happened?”

“You know that one surgeon who kind of sucks at his job but isn’t getting fired because of his connections?” Minhyun’s voice is flat. “He happened.”

“Yikes,” Seongwoo says.

“I’m sorry,” offers Jihoon.

Minhyun sighs, and the three doctors continue Jihoon’s rounds before going off to get some well-deserved (shitty) coffee from the breakroom.

 

 

* * *

 

 

My Love Chamsae

_(December 9) 6:32pm_

Babe

Oh my god babe I’m so sorry

Are you still at the hospital?

I’m sorry I’m still at work and I couldn’t contact you because I didn’t get a chance to check my phone

Shit Jihoon I’m so sorry

Please reply

Jihoon

Jihoon please

We’ll talk about this later.

I have a surgery I need to assist in.

I’ll call you later.

Okay..

I’m sorry

Okay.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Woojin sighs in frustration when Jihoon doesn’t answer his phone. They had plans to meet at a café near their apartment to grab a light dinner before heading home together, but it’s been thirty minutes since the promised meeting time and _Jihoon isn’t answering his phone_.

His mind immediately goes to the worst possible scenario, but Woojin calms himself down by reminding himself that this is Seoul, not the war-torn countries that he goes to for his missions.

(Logically he knows that Seoul can be just as dangerous as those countries, but Woojin doesn’t know if he’ll be able to keep sane while he’s away from Jihoon for long periods of time if he keeps thinking that way, so he forces himself to stay positive.)

“Park Jihoon, where are you?” Woojin mumbles to himself as he sends another text to Jihoon, asking him where he is and if he’s alright.

He gives his boyfriend fifteen more minutes before sighing and getting up, leaving the café feeling a bit miffed.

Twenty minutes later, Woojin’s at the hospital lobby, looking around to see if there’s anybody who can help him.

“Hello?” a doctor approaches Woojin. “May I help you?”

“Oh.” Woojin rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “My boyfriend works as a doctor here, and we were supposed to meet an hour ago, but I can’t seem to contact him, so I came to see if something happened.”

The doctor hums in thought. “Maybe I know who he is. Can I have a name?”

“Park Jihoon,” Woojin tells him. “His name is Park Jihoon. He works as a cardiothoracic surgeon.”

“Oh, you must be Woojin!” the doctor exclaims, and Woojin is confused. “I know Jihoon. He was called into an emergency surgery a while ago, so that’s probably why you can’t contact him. Would you like to wait in his office? I can take you there.”

“Ah, I see.” Woojin feels horrible for not having even thought of the possibility of Jihoon getting caught up. “That would be great, thank you.”

“No problem.” The doctor gives Woojin a warm smile. “I’m Minhyun, by the way. Hwang Minhyun. I’m also a cardiothoracic surgeon.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Hwang,” Woojin greets. “Jihoon actually told me about you and another doctor. Dr. Ong, I think? He told me that you two have been with him since he was a resident. Thank you for taking care of my Hoonie.”

Woojin gives Minhyun a grateful smile, which seems to surprise the doctor, but he’s quick to recover and smiles back.

“It’s my pleasure,” Minhyun assures Woojin. “Jihoon great to work with, because he knows what he’s doing. Unlike some people.” He mumbles that last sentence, and the corners of Woojin’s lips quirk up because he knows exactly who Minhyun is talking about—Jihoon complains about a certain doctor all the time.

They reach an office and Minhyun knocks to see if anyone will answer and opens the door and pokes his head inside. “I think Seongwoo’s off this week. Shame; he wanted to meet you.” He tilts his head towards the office. “You can wait inside. I don’t know how long it’ll take, though, sorry.”

“Thank you.” Woojin bows gratefully and Minhyun leaves after giving him one last smile. He takes a seat and plays around with the little trinkets Jihoon has on his desk while waiting. Woojin smiles at the picture Jihoon has framed on his desk—it’s the picture they had taken last year on their trip to Japan.

(Jihoon had looked so beautiful with the cherry blossoms dotting his hair, and Woojin had wanted to get down on one knee and ask Jihoon to be his forever right then and there.

But, of course, life had to get in the way and they were forced to come back early due to _both_ of their jobs.

It’s selfish, Woojin knows, but sometimes he really wishes that both he and Jihoon had chosen different career paths.)

“Woojin!” Jihoon bursts into his office (while still in his scrubs) an hour and a half later. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. Did you wait long?” He hurries in and fusses over Woojin, who chuckles. “You must be starving. I’m sorry. I should’ve asked someone if they could contact you for me but I—”

“Jihoon, babe.” Woojin cups Jihoon’s cheeks with his hands and brings him in close, effectively shutting the doctor up. “It’s okay. Dr. Hwang already told me you got called in for an emergency surgery. How was it?”

“It went well.” Jihoon relaxes and Woojin drops his arms to hold Jihoon by the waist instead. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry,” scolds Woojin. “It’s okay, really.” He drops a kiss on Jihoon’s nose and leans back. “Are you done for the day?”

Jihoon nods. “I am. Let me just get changed and we can go?”

Woojin is about to respond with an, “Okay,” when his phone goes off and the two of them freeze there, staring at each other for a second before Jihoon pulls away with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“You should answer that,” he says, sounding stiff—his tone of voice kind of reminds Woojin of a string that’ll snap if you pull on it anymore.

Woojin doesn’t want to answer his phone.

But he does, because he has to.

“This is Captain Park Woojin speaking.” He doesn’t take his eyes away from Jihoon, who still has an unreadable expression on his face. “Yes, I understand. Yes. Yes, okay. Okay, I’ll be there in an hour. Goodbye.”

He hangs up and the couple stand there in silence for a minute. The silence suffocates the two of them and Woojin has never had such a hard time trying to _breathe_ around Jihoon.

“You have to go?” It’s Jihoon who breaks the silence, and Woojin wishes he hasn’t. “How long will you be gone this time?”

Woojin hesitates before answering, “A week.”

“A week?” Jihoon tries to control his expression, but he fails and he knows it. He can feel his expression darkening by the second and can’t bring himself to do anything about the increasingly worried expression on Woojin’s face.

“I know that means I’ll be back on Christmas Eve, but—”

“You promised.” Jihoon interrupts with a hiss, and Woojin steps back in surprise. There are tears starting to well up in his eyes and Woojin doesn’t know what to do.

“Jihoon, love—” he starts, but Jihoon slaps Woojin’s hands away when he tries to bring Jihoon back. “Hoonie…”

“Go.” Jihoon exhales and wipes his tears away angrily. “I’ll see you on Christmas Eve, I guess.”

He tries to turn and leave but Woojin doesn’t let him. Grabbing his arm, Woojin pulls Jihoon in and hugs him from behind, burying his face into the crook of Jihoon’s neck.

“I’m sorry,” he breathes out, voice coming out muffled. “I’m so sorry, Jihoon.”

“It’s okay.” Jihoon goes limp and leans back into Woojin’s embrace, who tightens the hold he has on the doctor. “It’s okay. Just… come back to me safe, okay?”

“Okay.” Woojin lifts his head and presses a kiss on Jihoon’s temple. “I will. I love you. Don’t forget that, okay?”

Jihoon shifts so that he can face Woojin, whose heart breaks a little at the tear streaks on Jihoon’s cheeks. “I won’t forget.”

“Good,” Woojin murmurs and leans in for a kiss. Jihoon’s lips are dry and chapped from all the biting he does when he’s stressed or focused on something, but they’re warm and taste like hot chocolate and peppermint—a default taste of Jihoon’s, it seemed.

“Come home soon, okay?” Jihoon whispers when they part, and Woojin nods.

“I will,” he promises. “You know me. I always come home. This time won’t be any different.”

Woojin holds Jihoon’s gaze in his as he says his next words:

“I’ll always come home to you, Park Jihoon, and that’s a promise.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Woojin arrives back in Seoul eight days later and reports to his superiors, he speeds off to his and Jihoon’s apartment, hoping that his lover is still awake.

He knows that Jihoon had taken the entire week off in hopes of spending time together, and the guilt almost eats Woojin alive as he waits for the elevator to reach the lobby. In his hand is a take-out box from Jihoon’s favorite chicken place, which will hopefully placate the chicken-loving doctor.

The elevator door finally opens and Woojin scurries in and all-but punches the button with the 9 written on it. Tapping his foot impatiently, Woojin watches as the numbers go up one by one until it finally reaches the ninth floor.

Sighing in relief, Woojin hurries out of the elevator and puts in the passcode to their apartment, practically throwing the door open.

“Hoonie, I’m home!” Woojin calls out as he takes off his shoes. When he looks up, Woojin frowns at the dark apartment and wonders if Jihoon’s already sleeping. “Jihoon?”

He pads through their apartment and sets the chicken down on their dining table. It’s silent in the apartment, and Woojin just prays that Jihoon is asleep and not at work.

Of course, life says a big “fuck you” to Woojin and he finds that their bedroom is empty. Groaning, he takes out his phone and sends a text to Jihoon.

My Love Hoonie

_(December 25) 21:34_

Are you at work?

I guess you are

Call me when you can.

Love you.

Woojin sighs when thirty minutes pass without a reply from Jihoon, but he sees that Jihoon had read his messages.

He knows that Jihoon had probably deliberately turned his read receipts on to let Woojin know that he’s _angry_ , but Woojin decides it’ll be better for them to talk face-to-face instead of over the phone.

Or, at least, that’s what Woojin was hoping would happen, but life apparently can’t give the two them a break because Woojin gets yet _another_ call from his superior.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he says aloud before sighing and answering the phone. “This is Captain Park Woojin speaking. Yes, sir. Yes. Okay, I understand. I’ll be at the HQ in thirty minutes. Okay, thank you.”

My Love Hoonie

_(December 25) 22:02_

I got called in for work again, I’m sorry.

I’ll be home by tomorrow evening.

Let’s talk, please.

I love you, forever and always.

Don’t forget it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jihoon can’t believe what he’s reading when he opens his phone to check his notifications. Woojin had gotten called in for work. Again.

“Is this real life?” He slams down his chopsticks and both Minhyun and Seongwoo jump in surprise.

“I didn’t do it.” Seongwoo throws his hands up in an ‘I surrender’ motion. “Seriously, it wasn’t me this time.”

Minhyun shoves Seongwoo’s face to the side and frowns at Jihoon. “What’s wrong?”

Jihoon wordlessly shows Minhyun and Seongwoo his phone, and the two doctors go, “Ah.”

“Well,” Minhyun starts slowly and hesitantly. “You knew what you would be getting into, right? How long have you guys been dating now?”

“Four years,” Jihoon mumbles.

Seongwoo hums. “He told you, right? Before you guys started dating.”

“He did,” Jihoon confirms, though he still sounds sulky. “I just wish I would be able to spend some time with him without his job interrupting, you know?”

“Our jobs already make it hard for us to spend time with our loved ones,” Minhyun points out sagely. “Woojin’s is the same. You can’t just blame him for all of this,” he gestures vaguely. “And you knew what you were getting into, Jihoon.”

Jihoon sighs and plays with a napkin. “I know.”

“You two should talk,” Minhyun tells him, “and decide if this is all worth it for the two of you. It wouldn’t be good for either of you to keep this bottled inside when both of your jobs tend to keep you away from each other.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Woojin gets home the next evening, Jihoon is sitting on the couch waiting with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Chocolate for your thoughts?” Jihoon jumps when Woojin presses a piece of wrapped chocolate on his cheek. “How was work?”

Jihoon shrugs and accepts the chocolate. “Work was work. What about you?” He frowns when he sees a bandage on Woojin’s forehead and reaches up to poke it gently. “What happened?”

“Don’t laugh,” Woojin warns, and Jihoon narrows his eyes, wondering what about Woojin’s job would ever make Jihoon _laugh_. “I actually didn’t get this from my… assignment.”

“Then where did you get it?” Jihoon asks in confusion, and Woojin sighs in defeat.

“I was standing behind Guanlin when he got a little too excited about something and accidentally hit me in the face,” Woojin grumbles unhappily, and Jihoon has to fight the giggle that threatens to escape him.

“I see.” There’s a small grin on Jihoon’s face and Woojin is glad that he doesn’t seem angry. “Guanlin is your…?”

“Bomb expert,” Woojin finishes for him. “He’s a cheeky little thing, that one.”

Jihoon gives up trying to hold back and lets the giggles escape him. “That’s funny. So, no other injuries this time?”

“Nope.” Woojin gives Jihoon a proud smile, and Jihoon returns it with a small one of his own. “Nothing at all. Except for this, but it doesn’t count since it happened like three hours ago _after_ my assignment.”

“You never change,” Jihoon sighs and leans to the side to rest his head on Woojin’s shoulder. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Woojin murmurs and presses his face into Jihoon’s hair. “I’m sorry I was late.”

“It’s okay.” Jihoon closes his eyes and relaxes in Woojin’s embrace.

“I’m sorry I got called in again.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry that I had to work yesterday and wasn’t home to greet you.”

Woojin reaches for Jihoon’s hand with his free one and squeezes. “It’s okay.”

They sit there for a while, enjoying each other’s presence and feeling grateful that they’re both okay, and that they’re both alive and well.

“I’m sorry.” Jihoon breaks the silence and sits up to look at Woojin. “I’m sorry that I always get angry whenever you have to leave on your assignments even though I know it’s not something you can control.”

“Jihoon…” Woojin reaches forward to wipe away the tears that start trickling down Jihoon’s cheeks. “Don’t cry, please.”

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon sobs. “I knew what dating you would entail, and I know I should be more understanding of everything. I’m sorry for being selfish.”

Woojin feels his own tears wanting to fall and brings Jihoon back into his chest for a hug. “Jihoon, you’re not selfish. You have the biggest and the purest heart out of anyone I know. Thank you so much for being so brave and for not giving up on us.”

“How could I give up on us when you mean so much for me?” Jihoon hiccups. “It’s hard, Woojin. It’s so hard having to let you go when I don’t even know if you’ll come back to me.”

“Jihoon—” Woojin interrupts but Jihoon keeps going.

“It’s hard,” Jihoon whispers, “not knowing if it’ll be the last time I send you off every time you leave. But you come back. You always do, and that’s what keeps me going because at the end of everything, you always come home.

“You always come home back to me, and that’s what I need,” Jihoon finishes quietly. “I need you by my side. I don’t think I would be able to function if you weren’t.”

Woojin breathes out deeply, letting the tears fall. “I’m sorry that you have to go through this. But Jihoon, please know that when I promise you that I’ll come back, I mean it.” He leans back and gently tilts Jihoon’s head up and presses their foreheads together.

“I mean it with every fiber of my being when I promise you that I’ll come home to you,” Woojin whispers. “Don’t think I’m so easy to get rid of, Park.”

Jihoon lets out a wet laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Park.”

They both laugh a little and sit there with smiles on their faces, content with the fact that they’re here _together_.

It may be hard, Jihoon thinks as he enjoys the warmth Woojin emits, but in the end, Woojin will always come home to him—he believes in Woojin.

And it’s worth whatever life may throw at them.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/gyulhyuck)


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